hello march... where did february go???

Well I managed to drop the ball didn't I last month!  Where on earth did the time go? Where did the month disappear to??

I can't believe it is the first day of March already!

Anyways, astonishment aside... I have been busy... stitching... I just sort of forgot to come and post over here!

Let's just jump right in and start...  first of all tusal... the new moon was on the 27th so here is my Feb ort jar - all nice and full, as well as the year to date...

 

I've also been working on my Sunday SAL with Edith... and have been making some nice progress each week.  Here is Veronica with progress as of Feb 26

Being good, I haven't started any new projects just yet, though I will admit I do have several new starts planned... however, not just yet...  One I will start working on this month, but that is a commission work, so that I have to.  Here are my wips that I worked on through the month of February... 

Summer Bouquet by Lanarte, I made a little more progress on it since the picture in my last post...

Then Mirabilia's Madonna of the Garden

and finally I worked on Long Dog's Death by Cross Stitch... I do have a little more done since this picture was taken, but not enough to warrant a new photo.

I also managed to finish off a crocheted blanket... stroller size... not quite sure who will get it, but I made it... I actually finished the blanket itself in January, but ran out of the purple yarn for the border... it just took me forever to get more! But I finally did, and here it is...

That's all I've got... I'm hoping that this month will be much better than February... it was a total bust for me in other aspects as well, not just blogging... the only thing that kept me sane was my stitching... and as you can see, I did lots of that!

Till next time.... happy stitching!

hello february

I didn't post last Monday, as I didn't have anything new to show.

I didn't get anything done on our Sunday SAL as my husband took me out on a surprise date - dinner and the theatre so zero stitching.

This week, is different... I continued to work on Autumn Quakers a bit, and here is where I stand with that one...

I've reached the top of the pattern, and added the date.  As you can see I am planning on finishing it this year!  Hopefully sooner rather than later in the year too.

Then I pulled out another wip to give it some love for a couple of days as well.... this time Sunflower Bouquet by Lanarte.

Again, I made some progress, and am getting close to a finish on this one as well.

And last but definitely not least, our Sunday SAL... Portrait of Veronica... I didn't get much time to work on her yesterday but I did put some stitches in... and here is where I got...

Not sure what is on the stitching agenda this week... but until next time happy stitching!

and we continue dancing...

Since I had my dancing shoes already warmed up with my Reflections of Canada piece, I thought I would keep dancing as I finished off my Cornwall Cottage Sampler last week.

So let's not dawdle, let's dance... here it is in all its glory!

I finished it just before midnight on January 17... literally 2 years after we started this as a Sunday SAL with Barb and Linda.  As you can see I did make some changes, in that I centred the bottom row of the alphabet (even though my centering is more than likely somewhat off) instead of stitching the "stitched by" portion of the pattern. Other than that, I stitched it as is, with the called for GAST/Weeks threads.  Even though we totally fell off the Sunday SAL wagon, it was a pleasure to stitch, and I loved watching it come to life.

I've joined in on the stitch from stash wagon this year, including joining the FB group of the same name, to try and not spend so much money on stash...as I have a fairly large stash, and with that I am also making 2017 my year of wips... while I will still start new projects, I am trying to finish up as many of my wips that I already have going.  So far so good... 2 down, 7 active wips to go!  Though I do also have a couple of inactive wips that most people would consider ufo's that may also see the light of day this year... we will see what happens!

The next wip I decided to pull out of the pile to give some love was my Autumn Quaker by Rosewood Manor... now this poor thing hasn't seen any love since May of last year... I know I made an error on it somewhere so something is off, but I have no clue where... so I am sort of "working around" the problem.  This is where I left off last May

I started working on it this week, with the big round motif that is just started at the top of the above picture... I finished that motif off, and will continue along with this project for the rest of this week.

I have one more wip to show you... Sunday was our Sunday SAL for Portrait of Veronica by Mirabilia, and here is where I left off with her...

She is fun to work on, and it is difficult to say the least to put her away every Sunday night when I'm done stitching for the day.

Till next time... happy stitching!

dancing for my weekly update

Happy Monday everyone!

Let's just jump right into things and start off with a quick little happy dance!

I managed to finish off Reflections of Canada by Ink Circles this past week.  I used DMC 815 on a mystery white fabric I managed to find in my stash.

In addition to working on Reflections of Canada, I continued to work on one of my other wips that is getting close to a finish and worked on that one..

I worked on Cornwall Cottage Sampler, by Rosewood Manor...   Originally we started this as a Sunday SAL with Barb and Linda in January of 2015.  However, things didn't quite turn out that way, as life really got in the way, and both Barb and I managed to ditch poor Linda.

After a long break of not working on this, I pulled it out this month and have been working on it off and on.  I just love the colours in this, and it is so enjoyable to work on.

I'm getting closer to getting this one done too.... there is lots of confetti stitching in the basket from the flowers, but it is looking so pretty!

And of course since it is Monday, we had our Sunday SAL with Edith for Portrait of Veronica by Mirabilia.

Here is my progress on her... not sure if you can tell, but I finally did add a little colour other than black last night, though I will admit it is a blended colour with black... hopefully next Sunday, I will have more colour to show.  Considering how much black I stitched with Darth Vader in December, and said I didn't want to see black again for a while, I have actually been enjoying working on Veronica.

And that is it for me!  I have no clue what I will work on this week, if I will continue with Cornwall Cottage until it is done or if I pull a different wip.

But until next week, happy stitching!

Weekly update

I'm going to try getting back to blogging more regularly...  Since Edith and I are doing a new Sunday SAL, what better time to update what I've done during the week than every Monday after we finish our Sunday stitching for the SAL.

So here goes... my first of hopefully many regular updates!

Sunday SAL - Portrait of Veronica by Mirabilia

I'm stitching mine on 32ct mottle sage jobelan by Crafty Kitten, a very lovely fabric to work on. We started our SAL on Sunday Jan 1, and since Monday the 2 was also a holiday, we stitched both days, so here is my progress on Veronica for Jan 1-2

Then yesterday was Sunday the 8th, so she got pulled out again... here is my progress from yesterday...

You would think after spending roughly a month stitching Darth Vader with nothing but black thread, I would be sick of it, but I have to say, this once a week thing is okay. I actually look forward to seeing how far I can get working on her!  Hopefully soon enough though I will have other colours to show.

Then what else did I work on last week... I pulled out two of my wips to work on... first off Reflections of Canada by Ink Circles...

I managed to finish off the 3rd corner... one to go... and then I decided to work on Cornwall Cottage by Rosewood Manor...

 

Again, not too much left to do before finishing!

 

That's it for my update!  I'm not sure what I'll work on this week... another wip or work on one of these two to finish them up... but until next time... as always, happy stitching!

new starts and wips....

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been busy stitching away....

I have a couple of new starts, with a few more planned in the future...

Here is what I started...

It's been a while since I've done a big Mirabilia project, so I decided it was time... and I pulled out Madonna of the Garden... started her on September 25, and this is my progress so far.

I am stitching her on 28ct lugana (I believe)Snowy Skies by Sparklies hand dyed fabrics using the called for threads.

Next up is Feathers & Friends by Butternut Road, one that has been in my to do pile for a very long time.... I started her on Oct 5 and this is my progress up to today... I've been working on her apron...

 

I am stitching her on 28ct bayleaf jobelan with the called for DMC.

As for my other wips, I made some progress on only a couple of them... I worked on my Summer Bouquet as well as my Reflections of Canada... I tried to work on Autumn Quaker by Rosewood Manor, but I made a mistake somewhere and I just couldn't find it to fix it, so I gave up... and made no new progress on that one...

Here are my before and after pictures of both Summer Bouquet by Lanarte and Reflections of Canada by Ink Circles

 

And that is it!  till next time... happy stitching!

time flies...

 First off, it was the new moon on the 6th, so that means it is time for our TUSAL... here is my jar full of orts!  I managed to get lots of stitching in again this month!  I'm very happy about that.

I also managed to have a couple of happy dances too!  I finished off Geranium by Mirabillia/Nora Corbett.  She is stitched with the called for threads and beads, except I made one small change to the beads... I used the colour that was called for, I just changed the size...

there are blue beads that go along the outside of her wings, and these are supposed to be much larger... well I didn't like the look of them, so I switched them out... luckily I had the exact same colour but smaller in my stash, so I didn't need to look far!

I really like the way she turned out... and I've missed stitching Mira's... I am going to have to definitely put another one into my rotation in the near future!  She is stitched on 32ct tactical camo jobelan by Hand Dyed by Stephanie.  You can't quite tell from the picture, but it has nice green undertones in it.

I have a second happy dance to report as well... I was wanting some small "quick" finishes to add in to my stitching rotation, and as I was playing with my stash... I came across the dictionary series by Cherrywood Designs.  This is stitch... and there are a total of 6 in the original series, plus one bonus.  I do plan on stitching them all.  They are quite fun.

 

It is stitched on  32ct toasted almond jobelan by Stephanie as well, and I used DMC 3750.  My plan is to stitch 3 in the same blue, and then the other three in a deep red/burgundy colour on similar fabric.

 

I made some progress on my Autumn Quakers by Rosewood Manor as well... 

 

The bottom half is done, and I have moved on to the top half... I made some counting errors in the bottom left corner, so I had to adjust a few of the smaller motifs near the center to make sure things fit properly.  I love working with the Valdini threads, the colours are so rich.  I can hardly wait until this one is done and then get and start one of the other seasons!.

 

It is time to switch projects... not sure exactly which I will pick up... but until next time... happy stitching!

catching up...

It seems as of late that all I'm doing is catch up posts!  I love reading other people's blogs, I like my blog and I like posting, I've just gotten very lazy at it!

However enough of that, let's get on to the important stuff! Stitching and orts! 

April's new moon has come and gone, it was on April 7.  As usual, I took my picture in time, but as you can guess.... I'm only posting it now...

Same set up as before... small jar is this month's contribution, big jar is the year to date.

I've also managed to have a couple of smaller happy dances since I last posted... I started and finished Pushing up the daisies by Raise the Roof Designs... I just need the actual daisy buttons that go along the fence. I know it is not to everyone's taste, but I like it and think it is funny.

It is stitched on 32ct whimsical winter jobelan by Under the Sea fabrics with dmc.  I changed the fence from white to a more yellowy wood looking colour.

My next finish is also a small fun piece... Disney Villains by Cloudsfactory.  It is also stitched on 32ct whimsical winter jobelan by Under the Sea, using dmc.

My third finish is a crochet finish... another baby blanket

I didn't feel like stitching on my other wips so I decided to start something new... I pulled out a Mira/Nora Corbett pattern... haven't worked on any sort of mira in over a year!  I decided on Geranium.... here my last progress picture... though I now have more done since this was taken... I'm working on her skirt now.

I'm stitching her on 32ct tactical camo jobelan by Hand dyed by Stephanie.

Anyways, that is all for now... till next time... happy stitching!

tusal, wips and another happy dance...

I'm a bit late in posting my tusal... I was supposed to post this on Thursday but didn't get the chance till now.

Here is my ort jar for January... quite full...

 I managed to get lots and lots of stitching time in. I  started two new projects, had three happy dances and made progress on my wips too. I was quite surprised myself at how much thread was in there... it is neat to look at the layers and think of the projects they came from!  the bottom reds and greens from the cardinal sampler, the oranges from the autumn patchwork, all the greys from winter blackwork, then greens and whites from humbolt coast, the reds and sparklies from Poppy and what you can't see is the purples and gold from my tulips...

It will be interesting to see what February brings!

next up my happy dance and newest wip...

I managed to finish Poppy by Nora Corbett last Sunday (the 26) but am just posting her here now... I'm sure many of you have already seen her on facebook, but here she is again, as I just love her!

She is stitched with all the recommended colours on Sudden Storm 28ct jazlyn by silkweaver.  It's going to be tough to pick which Mira/Nora Corbertt pattern to stitch next, as I love so many... I do love the pixes as they are so much faster to stitch up then the big ladies, but those ladies are soo beautiful and so many are calling my name! Both pixies and ladies!

Last but not least my newest wip... I decided to jump in and start the tulip SAL I posted about in my last post.  I am stitching it over one... something I haven't done in a while, on 28ct pearl linen using the following threads:  GAST simply shaker harvest basket and baby spinach, crescent colours sugared violets, Nina's threads in eggplant and dmc 3790

I actually got a bit farther than this, as I had the word tulipan written in the centre all finished as well, but since I changed the writing from the original pattern I miss counted an it ended up being off centred so I had to take it out and will have to redo it next time...

Next up in the rotation will be humbolt coast tomorrow, and then blackbird designs midnight watch for next week's stitching time.

That's all for now... so till next time happy stitching!

the stitching bug...

Again my apologies for not posting sooner... I seem to have ever intention a couple of times a week, and yet nothing happens... I've been so neglectful of my poor blog, and will definitely have to rectify that soon!

I've been keeping busy with life in general and of course my stitching... the bug has really seemed to have bit me and his pal startitis as well... I have this urge to just start project after project after project...

 

Soooo....what do I go and do... I give in and do start multiple new patterns... You've already seen my start on the Winter Blackwork, and a little of Poppy...  Here are some more pictures of what I've started and a more up to date picture of Poppy from where I left her last...

 

Poppy as of September 8...

 



 

Then the week of Sept. 9, I started Blackbird Designs Midnight Watch... 

 

Here is my progress on it as of Sept. 14





 

Then on Sunday, I actually pulled out my Humbolt Coast SAL with Barbi and made a little progress on the beach...

 



And Monday this week I started my 4th new project... Lanarte's Summer Bouquet...

 

This is after Monday night's stitching session...



 

 

 

I have three more all lined up, but I think I will just start one more and save the other two and just slide them into the rotation when I finish one of the ones above... otherwise things will really get out of control... 

 

 

Till next time... happy stitching!

hello september... where did you come from???

 So where did the summer go?? I can't believe it is September already!  It was June not that long ago, and I was looking forward to the summer months... but I blinked and they are gone!   I hope everyone had a great summer even though I know it went by way too quickly...

As promised, I have some new projects lined up... here are two of them, that I have started so far... All of my new projects are patterns that I've had in my stash for a while and have been calling out to me for quite some time now... It was the perfect time to get them out and work on them...

1. Winter blackwork by Jill Oxton (issue 66)

That is what it is supposed to look like and here is my progress so far...

I'm stitching her on 32ct Queen Anne's Lace jobelan using DMC 844.  If I do say so myself, the picture doesn't do her justice... but that is my fault and my lack of photography skills and laziness to actually take it with the camera and not just my phone...

Shameless plug here... if anyone is interested I do have an extra of the magazine that this pattern is in for sale... don't ask how I managed that one, but I do have two magazines...

My next project is a little brighter...

2. Poppy by Mirabila/Nora Corbett

Here is my floss toss

And my progress on her from my first night of stitching...

I'm using 28ct Sudden Storm jazlyn by Silkweaver for her...

Anyways, I have two more starts lined up, but you will have to wait to find out what they are until I actually put some stitches into them...

Till next time... happy stitching!!

dancing up a storm...

Again, sorry for the disappearance, but again I have good reason... I've been stitching up a storm and have some finishes to show...

I finished my freebie heart done in all beads by AAN... I changed the word friendship in the centre to love and filled in some the extra empty space around it...

 

 

I also started another small one... Lizzie Kate's Forgive Quickly...   I stitched this one up on antique white 28ct jobelan using crescent colours wild berries thread (one of my favourite colours)

 

 



And last but not least, my biggest finish this month and one of my all time favourites... Fairy Moon by Mirabilia... I've added a couple of extra close ups... and please excuse the quality of them, they are phone pictures...

 

I've already got my next projects lined up, but I have to do some housekeeping with my threads first and put stuff away... once that is done I can finally see what I have and what I will still need for my next projects...

 

Till next time... happy stitching!